Canines at Home in the Ruins
How many times has a family stared in slack-jawed wonder as the adorable new family dog tears around and around the yard like a caffeinated dervish, joyously destroying absolutely everything in sight? They may be looking at a future Disaster Search Dog in waiting. As National Disaster Search Dog Foundation’s (SDF) Wilma Melville has said (with her usual economy of language) – “These dogs need to work. When left alone in a suburban backyard, they destroy the place.” Melville knew that dogs in shelters were often remanded there by families for having exhibited the very character traits that will make them successful rescuers – if not calming, slipper-fetching companions.
In 1996, FEMA-Certified Canine Search Specialist Wilma Melville launched SDF to address once and for all the shortfall of rescue canines in the United States. The year before, she and her partner – a black Lab named Murphy – had spent a week poring over the smoldering rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bombing site. She was struck by how few rescue canines there were to search the site for survivors. In fact, only 15 such certified canine-human teams existed in the country at that time, all volunteers like herself.
Melville had an epiphany. Why not formalize and optimize canine recruitment and training, partner the dogs with working rescue personnel already well-versed in disaster response? She envisioned a positive feedback loop of rescue: the unwanted dogs rescued from shelters would themselves become trained rescuers. The idea had legs; four legs.
The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Santa Paula, California, which is also the location of the National Training Center – 145 sprawling acres of collapsed structures, large-area rubble searches, train and vehicle wrecks, and wilderness ravines; scenarios that can be reconfigured to keep the dogs’ rescue acuity sharp.
Melville’s brainstorm has changed the dynamic for canine-assisted rescue in disaster areas, domestically and globally. Do all recruited (rescued) dogs pass the training? Most do, not all. But SDF’s dogs are not a “rescue commodity.” They are the spirit of the place. Denise Sanders – Senior Director of Communications & Search Team Operations at SDF – explains.
“It’s not just about the disaster search program,” Sanders says. “Once rescued, these dogs will never have to be rescued again. That is our lifetime care promise to any dog that enters our program.” As they move through the training process, the dogs need to navigate tight spaces, squeeze through small openings, walk backwards up a massive mound of rubble. Some dogs opt out, others can’t get enough.
“Some truly love it, and they just dance across the rubble! And then there are others that seem to say, ‘Well, if you really want me to … and we’re not going to make them do it at all.” SDF is a rescue dog’s university, family, and best friend. Forever.
“We’ve significantly grown our network of career change options and adoptions,” Sanders says. “It’s about helping each and every dog. We want them to enjoy it. So we say, thank you for being willing, but maybe let’s try something you’ll actually love.”
National Disaster Search Dog Foundation
SearchDogFoundation.org
(805) 646-1015
Chief Executive Officer: Rhett Mauck
Mission
Our mission is to strengthen disaster response in America by rescuing and recruiting dogs and partnering them with firefighters and other first responders to find people buried alive in the wreckage of disasters.
Begin to Build a Relationship
We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s Director of Development and/or Executive Director.
Watching the Search Dog Foundation grow from a small group of ardent volunteers into the nationally recognized organization it is today has been an inspiration and an honor.
As a longtime philanthropist and volunteer for many organizations through the years, the sense of passion and perseverance and collective drive toward reaching a goal is one of the hallmarks of a great group of people united for a cause. The Search Dog Foundation’s staff, Board of Directors, volunteers, and many supporters across the country have an insatiable need to keep growing and improving their work and the services provided.
As a team, we know we will continue to strengthen disaster response in this country. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of so many – both human and canine.
Sponsor the Canine Heroes
The frequency and strength of recent disasters are stark reminders that they can strike at the heart of any community. In the search for victims, a search dog’s remarkable nose and hard-earned skills mean the difference between days versus minutes, lost versus found, uncertainty versus hope. The National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) works diligently to ensure canine search teams across America can deploy at a moment’s notice when needed, which includes preparing the next generation of canine heroes.
From the day they arrive on campus to the day they are paired with first responders, SDF spends approximately $60,000 to train a search dog over 10 to 12 months.
SDF is raising $900,000 to train the next search dog graduates. Donors at $20,000 and above can become sponsors of a search dog in training, receiving updates on their progress and milestones throughout their career. Sponsor one or even a pack of canine heroes to be Part of the Search!
Board of Directors
George Leis – Board Chair
President and COO,
Montecito Bank & Trust
Richard Butt – Board Vice Chair
Retired EVP, Executive Creative
Director, VMLY&R
Mike J. Diani – Secretary
President, Diani Building Corp.
Christine DeVries
Management Consultant
Robert Harris, Battalion Chief,
Los Angeles County Fire Dept.
Rhett Mauck, CEO, National
Disaster Search Dog Foundation
Sydne Rennie, Attorney,
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
Deborah Whiteley,
Communications Consultant
Crystal Wyatt, Leadership in
Board Governance and Creative
& Sustainable Philanthropy